My So Called Parisian Life: March 2013

Monday, March 18, 2013

Normandy and Mont Saint Michel

This weekend we went to Normandy and Mont Saint Michel. It was about a 2.5 hour bus ride from Paris. There was 90 kids that went from my program so we had two big coach buses. The tour guide on our bus though didn't really speak English that well and she was clearly reading off a sheet but at one point she just gave up and was like it's too hard for me to speak English and then she finished in French... Our first stop was to the Caen Military Museum. It had stuff from pre and post World War II. After that we went to the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Because the weather was so crappy though, we didn't actually get to go down to the beach which was a bummer. The cemetery was really interesting though. There were thousands and thousands of crosses and Jewish stars marking the graves. It was definitely a sobering experience. After that we went to Pointe du Hoc which was one of the attack spots during the war. The whole field was filled with holes where the bombs had hit. The weather finally cleared up and it was absolutely gorgeous!! The water was so clear and blue. There was this rock out in the water that for some reason I really liked. Why? I have no idea.

Once we left Pointe du Hoc our program director said we were going straight to the hotel but instead we made a surprise pit stop at a cider distillery! The region is famous for the apples and the cider. We got a mini tour of the factory and then had a tasting. I really liked the sweet cider. It was so good! After that we really went to the hotel. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got there. The hotel was awesomeeeeee. Comfy beds, a hot shower, lights that are actually bright. We went out for a quick bite to eat at an Italian place around the corner. So we get there, and the waiter was being really obnoxious. He knew we were having trouble understanding him so he kept switching back and forth between French and Italian. Then we went back to the hotel. We were joking though saying how we are such grandma's. It was a Saturday night, and we were in bed by 10:15 watching BBC world news (finally an english station!). I think we were probably both asleep by 10:45.

The next morning we went down for breakfast then walked around a little farmers market which was really cute. After that we all loaded back on the bus and drove for I think two hours before we got to Mont Saint Michel. The weather was so so so crappy when we got there. So where the bus parked to where we got on the tram to bring us up to Mont Saint Michel was about a mile and a half walk. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't raining and the wind wasn't as strong. But we get to the tram and up to the monastery which is absolutely gorgeous. We had another tour guide take us around which was really nice. It was a lot of stairs and cobble stones. We were in one of the rooms and the tour guide was like, so this is the new building, it's from the 13th century. New building? Really? There was a courtyard that we walked through which was really green and pretty and all of a sudden it started torrential downpour, like actual sheets of rain, which then turned to hail. I took a few pictures then we went back inside. When we looked out again 5 minutes later there was not a cloud in the sky. The weirdest weather ever. Once the tour was over we had about half an hour for lunch. I was hellbent on getting some fries so we found a place and my little heart was happy. When we walked back down to the meeting point, the wind was so strong I thought one of the lanterns was going to go flying off. It was just crazy. After we all met up, we started walking back to the tram and it was even harder because the wind was so much stronger! People were blowing everywhere and getting tossed around. Never have I experienced anything like that. It was just insane. Once we finally got back on the bus it was 4 and a half hours back to Paris. I slept for a little bit but once we started getting closer to the city I was just so antsy that I just wanted to get off.

rooms at pointe du hoc

caen military museum

pointe du hoc

cider distillery

normandy american cemetery

omaha beach

sunrise by our apartment

normandy american cemetery

omaha beach

normandy american cemetery

"i give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish"

normandy american cemetery

"through the gate of death may they pass to their joyful resurrection"

pointe du hoc and my rock

pointe du hoc

caen

pointe du hoc and my rock

mont st michel

caen

mont saint michel

aftermath of hurricane force winds

mont saint michel

Morocco Itinerary

Here is our itinerary straight out of our handbooks!

March 27th
-Depart from Paris to Casablanca
-Small visit of the city and visit of the Big Mosque
-Lunch (not included)
-Bus ride to Fez
-Free time to eat dinner and lodging at the hotel

March 28th
-Breakfast at the hotel
-All day visit of the Medina (lunch included)
-Dinner and lodging at the hotel
-Optional folk show

March 29th
-Breakfast at the hotel
-Bus ride to Erfoud (lunch on the way)
-From Erfoud, we go to Merzouga in a 4x4 in the desert to the Great Dune
-Dinner and lodging in a 7 star tent/"haimas" in the desert

March 30th
-Early wake up in order to see the sunrise
-Breakfast in the 7 star tent restaurant
-Camelback ride through the desert and visit of a typical town
-The rest of the day is free
-Food, dinner and lodging at the 7 star tent restaurant

March 31st
-Breakfast in the tent
Trip in a 4x4 to Erfoud
-Bus to Meknes
-Dinner and lodging

April 1st
-Breakfast at the hotel
-Depart from Casablanca to Paris

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Stinky and Nuggie Take Paris and Other Updates!

I'm so bad at keeping this blog updated! I was much better last semester. Sorry! So Chels and Sarah came to Paris for their spring break. It was so nice to have them here! The first day they slept a little bit while I did some studying since I had midterms. Once they woke up we went to the Eiffel Tower and then went to a good Italian restaurant on the Champs Elysees. We saw the Arc de Triomphe too. The next day I had class all afternoon so Chels and Sarah went to the Louvre. When I got home we went out to dinner at a little restaurant down the street from my apartment. We all got caesar salads with a side of fries and the waitress looked at us like we had three heads. It was very strange...
The next morning I had class and a midterm so afterwards we all met up and went out to Versailles for the day. We got lucky because it was so nice out! I was surprised that it was so crowded on a weekday, but it was still fun. We went out to the gardens in the back too. I guess because it is kind of between seasons, they are doing construction so all of the bushes were basically ripped up. We walked down a little bit though to find a place to eat. I really wanted to go where I had eaten before when I was at Versailles in 2007 but I couldn't remember exactly where it was so we wound up going to a little stand and having hot chocolate and sandwiches which were pretty good. Afterwards, we really wanted to rent bikes, but the bikes didn't have baskets on the front of them so there was no where to put our bags. We wanted to go out to Marie Antoinette's house, le Petit Trianon, but it was kind of far, so we got online for a tram that goes back and forth, but the conductor was like um no so we just walked. It wasn't too bad. It was probably only about 10 minutes. So we walked around outside which was sooooooo nice. In 2007 we had gone there too, and I actually have a picture of the little cottage that I had taken hanging in my room. So I took the same picture. We stayed there basically until it was closing time. We decided to try the tram again because our feet hurt so bad. We were waiting online for a really long time before a tram finally showed up. They let us on, we had to pay of course, but it was nice to be driven back all the way up to the chateau! Our driver though would stop and get out, but then when he got back in the tram he started driving away while his door was still open... Um okay. On the train back to Paris, Chels, Sar and I were talking about the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London and we were like wouldn't that be really cool if we went tomorrow? (I don't have class on wednesdays). When we got off the train we went over to the Champs Elysees to have dinner and then went to the Eiffel Tower to see it sparkle and had some ice cream. It was freezing. But totally worth it. When we got back we looked up train tickets and if there were any slots open on the tour. We talked to our parents and booked it! Impromptu trip to London. Ahh the perks of being a study abroad kid.
So the next morning we got up super early, headed over to Paris Nord, and went to London! It felt so good to be back. I could definitely see myself living there. I don't know what it is about London but I absolutely love the city. It was amazing to see how different Paris and London are. I've been in Paris for about two months now. Going back to London I really noticed how much nicer the Tube is than the Metro and how much cleaner London is. It was also really nice to be surrounded by people speaking English! So we got to St. Pancras/King's Cross and went over to Platform 9 3/4 but the line was super long. When I went last semester we were able to walk right up to it, but this time there was a whole que set up and a guy working there that would put on the Gryffindor scarf and then take a picture for you. We were pressed for time though so we didn't get a chance to get a picture. We raced over to Euston Station to catch the train out to the studios. Man, I have never seen Chelsea so excited to do anything before! Hahahhaha. It was cute to see her and Sarah geeking out. I was perfectly content going back because the first time I did the tour we were rushed through it. So this time I got to take my time and read everything. After the tour we took the train back to London and went to the Eye. We went into the ticket office and some woman comes up to us and was like, "What internet browser do you use?" And we were like, "Um, safari?" And the woman was like, "If you switch over to Firefox I'll give you three passes to the Eye" and we were like, "Are they real?" and she was like "Yeah!" So off to the Eye we went! It was so nice not to have to spend the £18.50 to get on! There was no line we we walked right onto a pod. There were a few other people it in. There was a couple, and then some grandparent's with their grandkids. They were speaking French and I guess one of the kids couldn't read the word emergency on the button and he pressed it and someone came over the intercom and was like, "is everything okay in there?" The kid literally jumped back. It was so exciting to be able to point out everything to Chelsea and Sarah, I'm pretty sure they weren't paying attention though! I was like, "OMG, there's the BT Tower! That means my school is right over there! And there's Buckingham Palace!" And all that kind of stuff. Since we didn't have time to really do anything else, I think the Eye was a perfect way to be able to see everything! We had dinner at a restaurant right by the Eye and then ran off to the train station. I feel like all we did was run around while we were there! The train ride home was pretty uneventful. Since it was late by the time we got in I turned to them and was like, "Okay, so it's kind of late so while we're on the metro just be extra cautious and be aware of your surroundings." So we get on the metro and of course this really belligerent drunk guy stands up in our faces and starts saying something in French like right up in Sarah's face. I think the people around us knew that we didn't speak French and it seemed like they were getting nervous. So this guy came between us and like put his knee so the other guy couldn't get any closer to us. Then some woman was like you need to get off this car when it stops next. So as soon as we got to the next stop we got off and literally sprinted two cars down.

On Thursday we went to Angelina's which is right across from the Tuileries. We had a nice relaxing brunch. They have famous hot chocolate but Chelsea and I didn't really like it. It was definitely dark chocolate though so that's probably why. After that we went up to Monmartre to see Sacre Coeur and walk around up there a bit. After that we went to the grocery store so Chels and Sarah could get baguettes to take home. They each got two and Chelsea consumed one of hers, keep in mind they're about two feet long, in under 20 minutes and then about an hour later was hungry for dinner. That kid is too much. So we went out to eat and then came back. They left the next morning. It was weird when it was just Lindsey and I in our apartment! We used the weekend to study for midterms and relax a bit before the craziness starts.

Today we had another meeting to get ready for our Morocco trip! I can't believe we go in like two weeks. This weekend we're going to Normandy and Mont St. Michel which should be gorgeous. I think the weather is supposed to be pretty crappy though, but hopefully it won't be too bad. Oh that's the other thing, a few days ago we got so much snow! I'll post again after the weekend about our trip!